Faith Militant
The Faith Militant is an umbrella term for a series of religious military orders, known individually as the Warrior's Sons and the Poor Fellows. Today the Faith Militant enforces the rule of the Archsepton in Pentos. History Targaryen Dynasty After Aegon's Conquest, the Faith Militant followed the High Septon to quiet acquiescence with the new order. Soon, however, the relationship grew fraught. Over the reign of King Aenys I Targaryen the Faith chafed as their new Valyrian lords trampled norms that until then stood for generations of Westerosi. Upon news of the marriage of the Crown Prince Aegon to his sister, the Faith Militant revolted and trapped the betrothed in Crakehall. News of this drove the sickly King Aenys to his grave. Maegor Targaryen was retrieved from exile in Pentos and quickly set to work destroying the Faith Militant. He burnt the Sept of Remembrance and killed every member of the Faith Militant who stood in its defense, then smashed an army of Poor Fellows at Bitterbridge. His arrival and the subsequent death of the High Septon in Oldtown lead to the collapse of the rebel cause, and King Maegor the Cruel made it illegal for holy men to bear arms. His successor, Jaehaerys I Targaryen, traded amnesty for the rebels for the disbanding of the Faith Militant in 48 AC. Baratheon Dynasty In 300 AC the High Septon perished, replaced at the coercion of armed men by a lowly septon known as the High Sparrow, who adopted a much more dogmatic interpretation of the tenets of the Faith. A shrewd negotiator, the High Sparrow negotiated the forgiveness of the Crown's debt to the Faith-- a sum of nearly one million gold dragons-- in return for the lifting of King Maegor and King Jaehaerys' decrees banning the Faith Militant. Queen Regent Cersei Lannister agreed, and in short order both she and Queen Margaery Tyrell were arrested by the Faith Militant for a range of crimes, notably infidelity. Upon his return from the North, Master of Coin Lord Petyr Baelish devised a means by which to rid Westeros of the Faith Militant, one which won the support of the Queen Regent. Enlisting dissident factions in the Faith, the Master of Coin arranged for the septon of Oldtown to speak out against the High Sparrow, luring the latter out of King's Landing to answer the attacks leveled against him from Oldtown. Upon reaching the Reach, however, the High Septon was ambushed and captured by Lannister soldiers. Faced with the massacre of his faithful, the High Septon agreed to exile. He and much of the Faith Militant were sent to Pentos, the same city to which Maegor the Cruel had been exiled two centuries prior. Recent Events Under the leadership of the first Archsepton, the Faith Militant arrived in Pentos and seized control in short order, revolting when the Magisters of Pentos attempted to evict them from the city. Since that time, Pentos has been ruled by a theocratic government headed by the Archsepton.Category:The Faith of the Seven Category:Religion Category:Essos Category:Westeros